although i should mention, I agree with you 100% on this article. It’s not like you negated civil rights when something seriosu happens. But rather you’re speaking directly about the everyday situation that are not so serious….

That still doesn’t negate my point, though. People hold stereotypes. Deep down everyone knows that, and there are times when our battles are justified. However,(and in the cause of our moms) I think that many Arabs take it to the point of paranoia. We need to get over that, and recognize that simple situations happen because of simple people.

@Mais
I’ve never had anyone cosign with me! Not even on a loan! Thanks!!

I’m curious… was your mother wearing a hijab when this all happened? Did she mention anything about how other people were being treated? The Islamic dress is not exclusively Arab attire, I know, but that’s neither here nor there. When someone looks at me, their first reaction is that I’m just like everyone else. It’s not as if my features have ‘Arab’ stamped all over me. But say my mom who wears a hijab, **or even with my dad who dresses like a normal American… you better believe that they’re looked at differently when they come up to the register speaking in a foreign accent. Most of the time people are pretty cool about it. And then you find sometimes that some people exhibit a certain tone and body language. Ambiguous as it may be, you have to wonder why a rep would do that if they weren’t the least bit uncomfortable with who they were talking to.

My point is that the vast majority of us in the West hold stereotypes for many races and ethnicities. Some are positive and others negative, but everyone holds stereotypes nonetheless. The effects of which can be seen everywhere: in schools, in women’s pay, in sports, and even in customer service. So its not that your mother was being treated differently because she was Arab. I don’t think that’s what she was trying to say. She felt like she was treated differently because she is, in fact, different.

With that said, its best to choose your battles wisely. I don’t think the older generations of Arabs have quite figured that out yet. When a person is profiled at an airport or if there is overt racism against a mosque, then I can see why people would mobilize for the sake of their culture. But if it’s something frivolous as with the ambiguous case of customer service, then maybe we should learn to get over ourselves and let some things go.